trishaade "Pale Blood" tries to be a stylish and inventive vampire flick and does only a fair job. Someone is murdering women in L.A. and it is suspected that the killer might be a vampire. Instead, the killer is a madman, pretty much played to perfection by Wings Hauser. When the real thing shows up to try to figure out what is actually going on with the help of a detective who has certain "gifts", the two are able to put a stop to the murders.I can definitively say that I had a bit of a time making it through the whole film without leaving to find something else to do - it wasn't able to hold my interest for very long. I did finally finish it but not in one sitting.As mentioned, I thought Wings Hauser did a great job, however, George Chakiris wore more eyeliner than a glam band and I found his performance to be tiresome after a while. He showed little emotion or range and it was like his face had been shot full of Botox or something - one of the main reasons I had a hard time sitting through the film. When the lead character in a movie bores you, its kinda tough to really enjoy what you are watching. Even when he was twitching (you'll have to watch the film to figure out why he was doing that) he bored me to death. However, when Wings Hauser showed his true colors, I finally got interested in the movie and watched it through to the end. And I have to say appreciated the detective's taste in film (Nosferatu)!I'm assuming that all of the blue and red lighting used in the film was an attempt to be artsy or stylish but I found it absolutely unnecessary and thought it was rather silly - I feel that it took away from the film rather than enhancing it. It was quite overused. However, I did find the portable zip up coffin to be quite interesting.Although some reviewers would disagree, I actually did like the band (where the eyeliner was well placed :)). So if you can get past an emotionless vampire that shows no expression and wears more eyeliner than I do, go for it. You might want to take a look see at Mr. Hauser once he starts going off the rails, but you'll have to get through a lot of the movie before that happens.

mindbird Watch this movie for George Chakiris' perfect, perfect performance. I saw it on late night TV and there were some indications that scenes near the end had been cut out to make it TV-acceptable, or else the plotting became slightly choppy, but then it proceeds nicely to the ending. The traffic scenes used to take us through the daylight hours are a nice touch. There is a satisfying twisty ending. Not a great movie, but for me, Mr Chakiris' performance was a 10, and the reason I rated this movie so highly. Bela Lugosi set the standard. Chakiris is one magnificent standard-bearer and no one has done it better. The female lead Pamela Ludwig seems a little gauche in comparison, and one of his achievements is that his performance somehow highlights this AND works with it to highlight his character's sense of more-than-human age and experience. Ludwig is cute, and she gets better. Hauser is boiling over the top from his first scene, as his character requires, and I guess his fans would like this movie, too.

elinguation First off, despite the video release date of 1991, it's hard to think of a film that screams "1985" louder than this direct-to-video vampire flick featuring the steamy, neon-lit streets of LA in the 80s. Honestly, watch it and tell me you disagree. That goth-punk band that keeps rearing its feathered mane throughout the film (Agent Orange, a real band from Orange County who are still putting out records) - is that not 3000% 1980s? Anyway, I digress... and I haven't even started the review, which I guess is probably bad.So anyway, while this is a distinctly B-grade vampire flick, it certainly stands out among other films of its ilk. Where to begin? First of all, it features George Chakiris, who won an Academy Award for his role in West Side Story in 1961 (and never again appeared in anything legitimate for some weird reason), in the leading role of Michael Fury, vampire hunter. Mr. Fury slinks through the neon-bathed streets of nighttime LA stalking a vampire, or a killer who thinks he is one. Van Vandemeer (played by Wings Hauser), a sleaze-bag "video art" director who totally epitomizes bottom-of-the-barrel Hollywood, keeps getting in the way of the investigation. And then there is Michael's vampire-obsessed co-investigator Lori, who dresses all in black and hangs around her apartment at midnight watching Nosferatu on infinite loop. I won't give away any spoilers, but suffice it to say that nothing surrounding the trio is as it seems, and there are several unexpected twists and turns before the film finally slams to a surprising finale that recalls the intro in a very clever way.Look, for a film that's obviously low budget, all this is very well-done. The acting is surprisingly classy, especially George Chakiris, who totally exudes grace and dignity and always stays perfectly aloof and serious and just acts totally cool in dealing with all the other morons the film pits him against. Why haven't we seen more of this man? Wings Hauser is also very convincing and appropriately scummy in his role as slime-ball erotic trash director.Pale Blood is also super atmospheric. Without featuring any really stunning camera-work or anything of that sort, it manages to maintain a very specific, creepy, neon-lit atmosphere, especially in Michael's condo, the kind of weirdly abstract, ultra-modern sort of place that seems like the natural habitat of an aloof, nocturnal dude like him.Finally, the plot is really pretty capably executed, including, as I said, a really awesome surprise ending, although there are indeed points that might elicit a slight groan (this is a B-movie, after all). So why hasn't anyone ever heard of this? I dunno, but it's not because it isn't any good. I'm guessing that there may have been some issues surrounding the film that caused it to be shelved for a few years after its production, which obviously took place sometime before 1990. If you still don't believe me about this, note that all the Agent Orange songs featured in the movie came out in 1986. I mean, if you'll tolerate B-grade cinema, you'll immediately appreciate all the dark humor, atmosphere, and unpretentious yet intelligent craft-work that went into this hidden gem.Finally, a note about the location - if this was really filmed in Hong Kong instead of LA, as the IMDb credits indicate, it sure fooled me, and I live in LA... yet another curious point about this curious and enjoyable little film.

lost-in-limbo A media storm is brewing in L.A. after a number of strange murders of young ladies being drained of blood. Michael Fury arrives in the city from London, and hires a vampire-obsessed investigator Judy to look into these murders. He encounters the erratic artist Van Vandameer, who seems to be interested in the case too, but for purposes unknown. Well, this turned out to be one nice surprise. I never even heard of it, but the video case looked tempting enough, and plot outline capped it off for me to purchase it. What comes of "Pale Blood" is a highly stylish, sparsely slow-tempo low-budget vampire yarn that's a little more unusual, and clever than most of its ilk. However I can see why some might find it a turn off though, but while it's not a faultless exercise. I was reasonably transfixed. The premise does come off slight (but there are some neat ideas, and references within), and the messy screenplay makes little sense with the main concerned being on the moody nocturnal atmosphere filled with dreary lighting, steamy downbeat Los Angeles locations, piercing sound effects and an ominously ticking time-bomb music score. It scores big hit on those facets. There's a real art house feel to it, and just what was the deal with the inclusion of that punk band. Every so often it would cut to them in the club playing their song. Boy did it ponder, although I got to hand it to them that it was a tune that doesn't leave your head anytime soon. So from what you grasp, the soundtrack is largely filled with sleek, bouncy rock songs that enlivens the late 80s feel. V.V. Dachin Hsu garnished direction seductively cruises along and pulling out elaborate suspense by effectively generating disorienting spells of slow motion and trippy visuals filled with blue or red shades. Some sequences are quite blurry and move along like a music video clip, while the production limitations draw up a welcoming claustrophobic edge. The performances are reliable, if mostly dry. George Chakiris' perfectly shaped understated, sullen performance emit's a dark, youthfully heart-broken vampire. Now that's the opposite for a Wings Hauser. His nutty, slime ball performance was good fun to watch. An admirably unhinged Pamela Ludwig is decent. Diana Frank and Darcy DeMoss are there to look pretty, and than show off their acting expertises. A fine, minor offbeat vampire flick that didn't blow me away, but it peaked my interest.